night. good evening once again, i am stephanie ruhle. ukraine's fighter and russians invasion is now entering day 50, with heightened alarm over russia's renewed offensive in the, east and a promise of even more military aid from the u.s.. president biden spoke to ukrainian president zelenskyy by phone today. he said he has signed off on an 800 million dollar security package which includes more weapons and ammunition. that follows zelenskyy's latest twitter post, which is pleading for more help. >> we have been defending ourselves against russia much longer than they invade planned. we have destroyed more russian weapons and military equipment than some armies in europe have currently possessed. but this is not enough. freedom must be armed better than tyranny. western countries have never seem to make it happen. the final weeks are over the tierney, and the number of people say depends on them. arm ukraine now to defend freedom. >> the u.s. is also expanding its effort to share intelligence with ukraine about russian forces. and moscow is now warning the u.s. and nato that it will consider any vehicles carrying weapons into ukraine as legitimate military targets. also tonight, the new york times says the biden white house is considering sending a high-level official, possibly a cabinet secretary, or senior member of the military to kyiv, as a show of support for ukraine. meanwhile, the prime ministers of finland and sweden today signaled they are seriously considering joining nato, which would end decades of neutrality for both countries. should that actually happen, it would bring the western military alliance that much closer to putin, who has already threatened serious military consequences. we have a lot to cover. so let's jump right in. kevin baron joins us, with more than 15 years in washington defense. washington city and foreign affairs seen. and alina polyakova the president and ceo of the center of european policy. she is also a professor of european studies at the john hopkins university. kevin, john kirby was on this network earlier tonight. i want to show what he said about this new military aid. >> we are really focusing this package, much more closely on the fight today given what the russians have now done in reply or tie think their efforts in the east. these new capabilities that the president authorized will help them in the fight in the east. >> kevin, i think i said kevin bacon, it is always on my mind, i obviously meant kevin baron. how much of a difference can this package make? and specifically, what is in it. >> what is and it is helicopters, number one. the u.s. has resisted sending direct air support for ukrainians. you know, we went through weeks and weeks of how to get fighter jets to the ukrainians, and whether they could have provide them with another nation like poland to do it. the concern of all of this has always been the same. trying to avoid giving russia a reason to go into direct combat, or direct confrontation with american forces, un-american equipment. if you have a fighter jet taking off and an american base, the worry was, that makes that base from a russian attack, not only the plane that is in the air. giving helicopters is number one. other things that are important are more long range fires, guns, and about 300 armored personnel vehicles as well as about i think 300 switchblade drones. this is all ground warfare. air defenses. longer range air defenses to help defend the territory of the east, and based off of the kind of weapons that the pentagon says that the russians are amassing, like kirby just said. >> i want to share and un pretty interesting take from former u.s. ambassador mcfaul, he wrote this for the washington post. his threat of escalation, however, is cheap top. putin is bluffing. he is deliberately allowing the u.s. intelligence community to discover data about escalation in order to scare us away from helping ukrainians win. is he right? especially when you think about putin pledging to pursue this conflict to the end. he says peace talks are dead. >> well, it should be on our's interests as the united states and europe and the foreign nato alliance to make sure ukraine winds. what putin is doing is he is deterring the united states, which you, know is an absurd thing to say. the u.s. out matches together with nato russian capabilities exponentially. and putin knows that, of course. he has been using threats around nuclear escalation, threats around direct conflict with u.s. forces, declaration of war with nato, as a way to limit our ability to help ukraine win. i was very happy to see this new security assistance package from the white house. but i will say that it is still not enough. ukraine really needs more air defense systems to actually match the amassing russian forces in the donbas. there are significant, and currently they do a match ukraine. so when mr. putin makes these threats, we need to think about what is our interest, rather than allowing him to deter us in this war. >> we will likely see more threats, worst threats if we end up seeing sweden and finland seriously consider this nato membership. kevin, what would it look like? >> the threats, or the membership? >> if they were to join nato, what would putin do? >> good question. the russians have already warned their neighbors specifically thought there would be consequences. who knows? who can blame them for wanting to jump right and after seeing what is happening to ukraine. they don't want to be the next ukraine. it is clear that putin does not want to challenge any of the nato countries directly. that has never been his goal, it is not what ukraine is about, he may have talked a lot about nato's defense, all the more important thing is that it allows nato to deploy under the guise of nato, more forces and more firepower, more defenses into sweden and finland that they are already. there is already plenty of that in the north. but it just adds a bit more, and does more of what putin does not want. to unify europe. someone tweeted today, how badly of a decision have you ever made that it cost sweden and finland to join nato. that is how significant this is. this is something folks thought would never happen. definitely not as fast as this. >> the new york times reports that the u.s. and ukraine are now working to break through the russian propaganda fire wall and try to spread a different narrative about the war. try to get the truth to russians. how can they do it? >> it is incredibly difficult. and of course, we are trying. an independent media outlet that does receive u.s. funding has been amping up really basic things from before the digital age. radio transmissions of am radio waves. they have also been putting out so-called mere sides, these are sites that surpass russian censorship laws, and the russian government eventually comes up to them and shut them down. so it is a constant process they have to feed. but, the avenues for getting information, truthful information for russians, are very very limited. we have seen the last several weeks, the russian government moving very, very aggressively to ban a western social media, facebook, twitter, i think youtube's days are numbered at this point from russia, because they are afraid of russians learning the truth. they are closing every single potential avenue for russians to learn what is actually happening in ukraine. we have a very, very long fight ahead of us. and it is going to take a lot of resources, financial resources, and really us rebuilding what we lost after the cold war, which is our ability to pierce the iron curtain. >> kevin, we got an update today on one of the very first examples of ukrainian forces boldly standing up to the russians. watch this. >> if you remember the proverbial russian warship, it was the actual warship that threaten ukrainian border guards, and told them that russian ships would go away using slightly different language. i will, that ship is on fire now. >> russian state media says the same crew that the ukrainians told to go -- themselves, have now been evacuated from that burning ship. clearly, ukraine sees this as another big win. but can they withstand a more brutal phase of the war? yes, it is great when they have these winds, but given what they are facing? >> it depends how far it is going to go. i have seen reports of the ship tonight and i cannot wait to find out the details of exactly how this was able to happen. the big concern that i have heard in the last week has been that was the pentagon is expecting russia to, do whatever one is talking, about the shift to the east, the preparation for a major new offensive to take all the donbas and everything they can in that area. this could be the bloodiest, hardest fighting we have ever seen by far. that any civilians in a way, forget about it. this is different than hot shouting from afar with missiles, this isn't terrorism, indiscriminately and aiming at neighborhoods, this is the first time to hold a significant amount of territory. who knows? this could lead to the end of the conflict, and putin would be happy to take that as a win, or a loss, however he wants to look at it. it won't be easy, it won't be quick. how bad is it if ukrainians would depend on what zelenskyy was saying? how much nato and the west is willing to give them so that they can defend themselves and hold off the russians. they could, it is possible, ukrainians right now have an almost unlimited amount of ammunition and weapons, and supplies behind them. they have everything short of american and nato war plans striking forces inside of russia. and it depends on the russian side, how much putin is willing to keep funneling in ways, and ways of troops and armor, and arms. it's one of them being less and less qualified, or as experienced, or as good as the former as the reach deeper into their storage of arms behind that. so it depends how quickly the russians can go, how much the ukrainians are able to withstand them, but we may know sooner than later how bad it could be. >> all right, kevin baron, alina polyakova, thank you both for joining us this evening. tonight we are also following new developments on the january 6th investigation. new york times reporting the house select committee met virtually with former trump white house counsel, pat cipollone, and his deputy putt film in. those interviews were said to be voluntary, and not under oath. the times ads, trump quote allowed the lawyers to talk to the committee. also, the times say the biden white house has authorized the release of even more records from trump's presidency to the house committee. the latest batch will be delivered april 20th. meanwhile, the third january 6th defendant to it's a jury, a man named dustin thompson, it's now offering an unusual defense. today he told jurors he's stormed the capitol, story bottle of liquor, and a coat rack, because he was following presidential orders. he also testified he did not have any strong male role models in his, life and was hoping to gain the respect and approval from former president donald trump. with that, let's bring in our experts. and why you law expert professor melissa murray, she worked as a law clerk on the federal bench before her nomination to the supreme court. and tim o'brien, senior columnist who's literally wrote the book on donald trump. melissa, this interview between former white house counsel pat cipollone and his deputy, and the january six committee was not under oath. and trump gave his blessing. given that, why should we trust what they said? shouldn't the committee have just subpoenaed them? >> well, i think the committee could have subpoenaed them. but they seem to be willing to talk. and again, mr. cipollone and mr. -- we're always pushing back according to their accounts on the presidents most outlandish views on how the election might be taken back from the democrats. so they have always sort of presented themselves as the voice of reason in the oval office during these tumultuous times. whether or not the committee could've subpoenaed them, the fact that they did so voluntarily gives a crematoria of legitimacy to their testimony at this point. but the testimony is really preliminary at this point. it was not taken under oath. it is likely that they will be brought back in for interviews, and even depositions. this was not even transcribed. so it seemed to be more exploratory, than anything else. the idea that the president blessed this, and waived the privilege, again is more tentacles and actually informative. the former president is not in a position to exert this kind of privilege, at least at this point. >> tim, the new york times got a hold of an audio from a former aide of roger stone who is urging trump backers to intimidate lawmakers into overturning the 2020 election. listen to this. >> it's got to be a multiple front strategy. and that multiple front strategy, i do, think it's to descend on the capitol. without question. make those people feel it inside. okay? so they understand the people are breathing down their necks. and we've had it. and we've got to be perfectly clear about. it now, i'm not inciting violence or any kind of riots or anything like that. but we need to be allowed. it needs to be like jericho, okay? >> okay. that is really bad. however, that was not donald trump's voice. you know donald trump very very well. even if he wanted this to happen, do you think we are going to get any evidence, anything in writing, anything in audio with donald trump himself giving the directive? >> look, we already know so much about donald trump giving directives. we know that he tried to intimidate mike pence. there is a record of that. i do not think we are going to get tape of donald trump audio donald trump being recorded in the oval office saying i have been in touch with the guys over in the willard hotel, and i have been in touch with roger stone who is walking them all with me, and we are going to raid the capitol, and we are going to declare martial law. but we have a lot of witnesses who have already said this. we have his own daughter saying, i am glad that mike pence sat down, or stepped away from carrying out an intrusion, and interference with the electoral count. but at the end of the day, if this is going to get any real traction, if donald trump is going to be painted accurately, i think, as the architect of a coup, not just someone who is inciting violence, we are going to have to get more evidence. >> melissa, now the january six committee has this audio, could it actually help the defendants who are saying trump told them to do it? >> i mean again, this whole idea that trump is the mastermind behind, this and that his speech was intended to encourage, and he did encourage those individuals to storm the capital, we will see how that theory plays out before this jury. but, the real question as tim says is whether or not there is actually evidence that goes to show that not only did he say he is words, he actually said them with the intent that it would provoke the kind of response that the defendants are saying it had. so you really need to have more evidence of the former presidents mental state. what he thought, what he thought he was doing when he made these statements, the fact that these individuals determined that he wanted them to go to the capital is one thing, but whether or not it actually forms the predicate for some kind of criminal liability for the former president is a different matter entirely. >> tim, what about this guy today who said he had no strong male role models, and he was just trying to win over the president? could that even remotely be a viable defense here? >> i think it is crazy that it also ended up he stole the coat rack, and a bottle of boos at the end of the day. >> you're taking the coat rack home with you? >> i think it is actually a good defense. other defendants have used. it they have said that trump is the person who inspire them to go there, and break windows, and break down doors, and threaten members of congress. i think anybody in this situation right now is not going to say, i didn't voluntarily. they are going to finger the person who inspired them to go there. and of course trump did. he was tweeting about it in the weeks before the event. he was encouraging people to show up. his maga followers had been waiting to take his orders for quite some time. i think it is a good defense. >> melissa, you are shaking your head. >> well i just want to note that this is a defense that many criminal defendants will lodge, particularly in circumstances where they are involved in the drug trade, or gang violence. didn't have male role models, if ellen with these popular charismatic male room wattles, and in many cases, when those defendants are black and brown, it is absolutely and of violent in those cases. so, if it actually works here, that will be very interesting on its own. and present some wide disparities from its use in other contexts. >> i know we are out of time, but i do have to hit this. trump's former chief of staff mark meadows, he is now being investigated in front of all things, voter fraud. he has been kicked off north carolina's voter rolls after officials determined he was registered there, and in virginia. it is an extraordinary ironic twist. but besides being ironic, and making major headlines, this is going to change anything? >> it is not going to change anything at the end of the day about them being hypocritical about voting rights. it is a reminder that donald trump was surrounded by profoundly stupid people. when he said that he was going to bring the best people into his white house, he ends up with a chief of staff that is doing voter fraud with a mobile home that he does not even live in, he has never visited, and this is the quality of person that donald trump is relying on as a screen for value in the white house. and it is a reminder of the kind of people that will be in the white house again if trump gets reelected. >> there we go. we will and on that note done. tim o'brien, melissa murray, thank you so much. coming, up after 30 hours on the, run the suspected subway shooter now facing the possibility of life in prison. we will ask the former nypd commissioner if there were red flags that we missed. and later, his political rally cry, it is the economy, stupid! has arguably more importance for democrats today. james carville is here with yamiche alcindor on this mixed messaging and culture war complications. the 11th hour just getting underway on a wednesday night. y night. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some...rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least one heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission. learn how abbvie could help you save on rivnoq. hey businesses! you all deserve something epic! so we're giving every business, our best deals on every iphone - including the iphone 13 pro with 5g. that's the one with the amazing camera? 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>> good luck on his part that he avoided detection. people had been alerted significantly by you, and the media working with the police to get his image out to the public. part of the ongoing investigation will be to determine what was he doing from the time he committed that active violence in the train, to the time he [inaudible] was affectedly turned himself in. so that will be part of the investigation. >> it turns out that james had posted several violent sounding messages on social media, including criticism against new york's mayor. do you think that there were red flags that were missed? >> i do not, based on what i have heard up until this point. in terms of his messages, as upsetting as they were, who saw them? if they saw them, did they report them? police are not reviewing every social media message in america, that is for sure. they don't have the legal right to do that. so, somebody who may have seen his france, i'm not even sure anyone saw them, that they evidently were not so concerned that they alerted authorities. he presents himself almost as someone who is living in an alternate reality. so no, i don't think read by his were missed. he purchased a gun legally back in 2011, i think it was at that time, he has a criminal record but [inaudible] in the 90s, we do not have all of the detail with his alleged record or history. but at this point, based on what i have seen were lied to the media, i don't see any red flags missed. >> he does have a record. nine arrests since 1992, yet he was able to buy that gun legally. should that be okay? is it time to change the laws? >> good luck with that. this is never going to change the laws. he purchased legally, it is unfortunate, i am a strong advocate for more gun control, but we are a nation that basically as a congress will not support it. so again, we are backing up the wrong tree on that one. he purchased it legally. >> police today say that the subway cameras, the surveillance cameras, or owned and operated by the mta and it is up to the transit authority to make sure they are working. is that good enough? >> well, that is the current system. the police department is not responsible for most of the cameras in the city. they have a significant number of their own cameras that are connected that they review. they are very familiar with the subway system, having the chief of police back in 90 in that system, and cameras on the subway are always a maintenance problem. the steel dust is emanating from the steel wheels of the train on the steel rails. that dust gets into everything. it corrodes very quickly. so with the maintenance procedures, where they adequate? obviously not. in the incident at the cameras and that particular station appeared to be in operable. they will have to be part of the ongoing investigations and reviews as to what were the maintenance practices at the mta, and where they efficient? that is one area that needs to improve. i have made a recommendation in 2015 to the mta, giving them thousands of new subway cars, that they equipped those subway cars with closed circuit cameras. in this era of 5g technology, that would allow the conductor, it would allow offside control centers, to monitor every one of the 6000 subway cars in new york all the time. it would be interesting to see if those cars, -- i would be willing to bet they probably did not because they did not want to spend the money. >> well, you have been criticizing politicians for not doing so. maybe now they will listen. commissioner bill bratton, thank you so much for joining us tonight. coming up, the president is taking his economic record on the road. but another prominent democrat says some in his own party are muddying the message. james carville will explain when the 11th hour continues. he 11th hour continues i recommend nature made vitamins, because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written a ballot proposal to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless, but read the fine print. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. after my car accident, stand with us. i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, our r inry a attneysys wk hahard i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. call us now and find out what your case could be worth. you u mit bebe sprisised i'll talk about how investments ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ in the bipartisan innovation act, will help grilled remarkable progress we've made over the last year in trying to get arm it can economy back up through the -- . and the economic renewal that is in there for the -- >> president biden headed to greensboro north carolina tomorrow. scheduled to speak at the historically black college for inflation and supply chains. i.e., the economy. so let's discuss. with us tonight, james horrible, who helped elect former president bill clinton in the early 90s. and alicia, nbc's correspondent and moderator of washington week on pbs. mr. -- you are the man who coined the phrase, it's the economy stupid! today, you gotta be pretty smart to explain this complicated economy. so how are democrats going to do it? >> i don't know if you have to explain it, of course, you've got the bad economy, if elation. which is actually corn felicia in. that's a good economy, you got hourly rage, and more -- more people quitting jobs and getting better jobs in the ever have before. and the hope is that between now and november, that rate exceeds the inflation rate. and there are some people out there who want to ask for that. so, you've got things in the economy and you have bad things resulted self. you have no other thing to do, you have no choice. it's 8% in november, we're going to lose! okay. if wage falls 6%, -- you have to, you need a little walk here. >> making it simple. while the president is going to speak about the economy tomorrow, and do you have a message? >> well, as you know the president is going to be heading to north carolina and we see you and rings faith. of course north carolina is a -- democrats are trying to hold by the chain. they're going to try to pivot more to domestic issues. he understands inflation, it's at a 40 year high, he's making the case that he has a plan in action. but the problem of course, stephanie, is what they touched on. this idea that one is a limited amount of things he can do as a president impact inflation, but also people, americans, are all focused on surviving. they're making away with prices being so high. and they're trying to say, i hear you, and i want to connect with you. but it's a tall order through the biden administration to actually -- with all the other challenges this white house is struggling right now. >> james, last night i talked to a strategist who said democrats are going into the midterms disappointed because joe biden has not got enough done. but the thing is, he's gotten a lot done! he just had a supreme court justice on the bench, he passed the american rescue plan. the largest infrastructure law, comprehensive xe rollout, and our economy, while complicated, is in recovery. there's a lot of great things. do democrats need to do a lot of a better job selling these winds? >> thank. you know. some democrats need to shut up and quit saying that the president has not done anything, because he has had a lot. if you look at his approval rating just among democrats, it's 15 to 20 points below where it should be. and a lot of that is about the yapping that comes from democrats telling other democrats that joe biden has not done anything for me. when, in fact, if you are an hourly worker, and you have a child you are raising in poverty, joe biden has done more for you than any a buddy else has ever done for you. you look at this outstanding supreme court justice, look at the contempt, and disrespect that went towards her. if you're a democrat, i don't care what you, are with gender, race, if you don't see that and you are not outraged, and it doesn't make you want to vote. i can't do anything for you! you're just a whining, complaining, person. they're going to activate you, and motivate you to go out and vote! you look around and you see the power that hourly workers have. the people we claim that we care about. you look at how much their lives improve, look at 2 million people, i'll yell study today said 2 million lives were saved because of vaccine distribution that took place under the biden administration. so, if he hasn't done anything in particular for anybody, it's insane, it's wrong. it's so wrong. >> but why does it happen? where does it come from? it makes no sense? >> because you get on television complaining that the president hasn't done anything for you. right? he's done a lot for the people that we as democrats say that we care about. and look at the way that they are treating the now justice jackson. look at what is going to happen in the supreme court. they are going to tap dance on your head. and they don't care, because they believe, and they may be right. that the democrats are weak, -- and that just maybe it. we cannot stand in for joe biden taking the things that he isn't. and we don't deserve to win this election in 2022. >> all right, without getting into specifics of the law. alabama's governor signed an lgbtq law. alabama, along with an other republican states doing this, here's what i don't get. is the state of alabama and such great shape? they have huge issues with poverty, water power, voting rights. how is it that lgbtq legislative agenda is more important than issues that are impacting the daily lives of thousands of people in that state? how does this become their number one priority? >> stephanie, it's such a great question. because critics know what's happening in alabama. and say this is all about politics. this is all about of election year. republicans understand what's in the motivate their base. they make this argument about culture wars. they want to lean in on transgender rights. they want to talk about crime, critical race theory. they want people to feel like americas slipping through their fingers. and democrats, in some ways, are trying to focus on the nuts and bolts. inflation, trying to tell people about their student loans being deferred, saying that we are doing something for you. but this is a messaging war. that is what a lot of election years are about. but james's frustration, the idea that democrats need to make sure that they have an action that is clear. that frustration is going across the democratic party. just last week, former president obama, at the white house told nbc nbc news, that democrats have a message, and they need to be able to tell their story. in this election. if they can't do that they're not going to be able to win. if the -- republicans have their own message, it is that america is changing too much. your kids are at risk, and this is what we're gonna do to try to help save your kids. it might be a message that is problematic, even filled with some falsehoods, but it is a message of his riling up their base and getting them to the polls. >> james, i would guess jobs, health care, education. that would get republicans to the polls. why is it anti-lgbtq agenda such a win for them? >> first of all, they don't have any under agenda. mitch mcconnell says he me at the election. so let's take six tenths of 1% of the population. these children who are five times more likely to commit suicide, have mental health problems. why are we picking on them? unless they're trying to help these trans kids. trying to have them tried to get along in the world. and not have the terrible mental problems that they have. it's just, the point of it is just cruelty. it's just to be mean, to hear some people that are vulnerable, and let's just go out and put them front and center. make them the issue in the election because we don't have anything other to run on then the rich and john -- to raise taxes on 40% of the people in america. >> and that gets republicans excited to vote? >> i'm not a republican. what would get me excited to vote, i'm a democrat, we're gets me excited to vote is to see judge jackson. what gets me excited to vote to see hourly workers have some options. but i cannot explain it to you. because, i'm a flawed person in many ways, i'm a bad person, i don't think i'm a cruel person. and this is just being cruel to people that need our compassion and do not need our cruelty. >> well, it sounds like you have a lot to be excited about come midterms. james, good to see you. thank you as well. >> thank you dennis. >> coming up, the pandemic is still with us! and with us, more opportunities to fleece the tax hair. our next guest has a stunning new report on the depth of -- related fraud. we are no words following the money here. when the 11th hour continues! ur continues it's 5:00 a.m., and i feel like i can do anything. we've been coming here, since 1868. there's a lot of cushy desk jobs out there, but this is my happy place. there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn more at deere.com migraine attacks? you can't always avoid triggers like changes in weather. qulipta™ can help prevent migraine attacks. you can't prevent what's going on outside, that's why qulipta™ helps what's going on inside. qulipta™ is a pill. gets right to work to prevent migraine attacks and keeps them away over time. qulipta™ blocks cgrp a protein believed to be a cause of migraine attacks. qulipta™ is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie can help you save on qulipta™. we covid cases climbing, the biden administration has extended the mass mandate on planes and trains until may 3rd. and speaking of masks, the cdc started recommending masks to the public three years ago today. but as we recall, medical masks were in short supply and price gouging was ramp it. former -- david mcswain tweeted, analyze and reveal the broader trend. anyone with an email address and an llc could get multi million dollar contracts for supplies, masks, gloves, tax kits etc with no real vetting. the trump administration has prepared -- joining us as part of our on reported policing of america's david swain himself. and he is the author of the new book, pandemic ink. chasing the thieves who got rick which while we got the sick. this is an important book that we wrote. the covid pandemic is one of the worst moments in modern pandemic history. tell me how all of the efforts of the responses littered with fraud? >> we expected some of this, it is human nature certainly an american tradition to try and get rid of a crisis. but we've kind of had this perfect storm, about a decade of funding the strategic national stockpile. it's really the first line of defense in a pandemic, or biological attack. and there, it does trump administration which is it is matthew clear the railing democracy. and we were flat footed, the trump administration is in denial. and we had this position where the fundamental strategy was just to throw hundreds of millions of dollars, eventually billions, out of the door to mercenaries. one of the main characters, they call them buccaneers and pirates. our national well-being was in their hands and the federal government got taken for a ride. and taxpayers, in a lot of instances, got screwed. >> you reported started, literally, on a private jet in april of 2020. and eventually, the guy who invited you invited you on that jet pled guilty to a 34.5 million dollar contract. when did you know something was not right? >> i had a suspicion something was not right from the beginning. i was pouring over the early contracts and taking a look at the company names. trying to figure out who is new. and this company had never received a federal contract and was really big, $34 million for that administration which oversees the -- . i called him and asked him how he got his contract, and how he was to deliver something like 6 million masks. and he said, i'm the real deal, i've got them. i'm hopping on a private jet tomorrow to deliver them. and i said that's really interesting, would you mind if i tried to log? almost immediately as we are taking off, he says he does not have the masks. he at one line en masse, and they're these other characters, these brokers, and secret investors involved. and i said tell me more, and it went on for the ride. and it's set off a crazy and outrageous year of the reporting, a year and a half later. >> okay that's masks. how did all 50 states, who thought they were getting test kits, and up with mini soda bottles? >> right, so this was a company, an llc that was created about six days later. it got a 10 million dollar contract in a federal emergency agency. and looking for the deal, i just thought their name was farley. but a colleague of mine, had a pcr test. the fancy, science laboratory grid tests. and this company had no experience whatsoever with the medical space. so we were here where it is. and we threw out a story about how the government was clearly tiring more than everyone. and we got this tip from state officials who said i got these tests, and they are completely unusable. i was shocked, they were thrown into bags. i don't think they're sterile. and the company said there actually many subtle bottles. so we followed up, and i went to the warehouse and witness as temp workers for this company where this hot, under conditioned warehouse. literally using snow shovels to move these old salvo bottles into ben's. and squirting saline in them, throwing them in the truck. when we told what we saw, they had to warn all 50 states that they could not use these tests tubes. so we were behind on time, we were behind on testing. and it was increasing time on addressing the pandemic. set us bound for. >> i have no time, i have to ask. howell did so many in the marijuana business having a huge share of the mask market? last i checked, you can't use a bong with a mask on. where is the connection? >> true. so this is strange, in the marijuana industry, it's a no-man's-land. where it's federally illegal, but states had legalized that. so you have folks who are accustomed to getting money from private investigators working outside of banks. and there connected to the medical supply chain, and the folks in china. so this is standard, people who are involved in these things are suddenly masked brokers. and suddenly have six figure paydays in just a week. and, just over and over again, completely different groups of people who did not know each other, and find their time in the marijuana business. >> finding some time in our country's march desperate hour. this book has moved much in it. and the fleecing of america matters so much to our audience. david mcswain, thank you. coming up, the successful rescue mission under the rubble in ukraine when the 11th hour continues. inues. understand my family's immigration experience and what life must have been like for them. and as i pass it on to my daughter, it's an important part of understanding who we are. ♪simply irresistible♪ ♪ ♪ ♪simply irresistible♪ applebee's irresist-a-bowls are back. now starting at $8.99. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ i am not letting you go tonight without a little puppy love! throughout this senseless war in ukraine, we've seen countless issues of ukrainians clinging to their pets as they attempts to reach safety. beloved cats and dogs who are beloved by families and bring comfort to their owners. which is why it was all hands on deck to rescue those trapped puppy, after the house was destroyed by russian shelling. the police service came and shared this video of rescuers using their bare hands to rescue this puppy from the rubble. after clearing away pieces of debris, they were able to brush off the dust and dirt and save this black puppy. holding his puppy in his arms, they told the officers thank you for doing everything so quickly and promptly here.